A young girl dies of malnutrition in Gaza
A young girl has died from starvation and dehydration in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, reported Wafa news agency on Monday.
Staff at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said the child died from severe malnutrition - caused by the ongoing Israeli blockade of humanitarian aid, food, and water.
Medical staff warned that thousands of children across Gaza are suffering from malnutrition and dehydration due to a lack of access to water and food after nearly 100 days of Israel preventing food, clean water, medical supplies, and fuel from entering the besieged strip.
Bassam Zaqqout, director of the non-governmental organisation Palestinian Medical Relief Society, described the situation as catastrophic, declaring: 'Gaza has become a place of death. The famine rate has reached 100 percent'
Israel has been accused of using food as a weapon of war by human rights organisations.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Dubai Eye
3 hours ago
- Dubai Eye
Israeli gunfire kills 17 people near Gaza aid site, health officials say
Israeli gunfire killed at least 17 Palestinians and wounded dozens as thousands of displaced people approached an aid distribution site of a US-backed humanitarian group in central Gaza on Tuesday, local health authorities said. Medics said the casualties were rushed at two hospitals, the Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, and the Al-Quds in Gaza City, in the north. The Israeli military said its forces fired warning shots at "suspects who were advancing in the area of Wadi Gaza and posed a threat to the troops". It added that it was aware of reports that several were injured, but argued numbers released by local health authorities did not align with the information they collected. "The warning shots were fired hundreds of metres from the aid distribution site, prior to its opening hours and toward the suspects who posed a threat to the troops," the military added. Last week it warned Palestinians not to approach routes leading to sites of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) between 6:00 pm and 6:00 am local time, describing these roads as closed military zones. There was no immediate GHF comment on Tuesday's incident. The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. Many Gazans say they have to walk for hours to reach the sites, meaning they have to start travelling well before dawn if they are to stand any chance of receiving food. While the GHF has said there have been no incidents at its so-called secure distribution sites, Palestinians seeking aid have described disorder, and access routes to the sites have been beset by chaos and deadly violence. Later on Tuesday, local health authorities said an Israeli strike on a house in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip killed eight people, taking Tuesday's death toll to at least 25. The Israeli military said separately, it intercepted one rocket fired from northern Gaza towards Israeli territories, which signalled Hamas and other militant group remained able to fire the weapons despite Israeli devastation of their arsenal. Israel allowed limited UN-led operations to resume on May 19 after an 11-week blockade in the enclave of 2.3 million people, where experts have warned a famine looms. The UN has described the aid allowed into Gaza as "drop in the ocean". Witnesses said at least 40 trucks carrying flour for UN warehouses were looted by desperate displaced Palestinians as well as thieves near Nabulsi roundabout along the coastal road in Gaza City. The war erupted after Hamas-led fighters took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023, attack, Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's military campaign has since killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the coastal enclave.
Gulf Today
4 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Israel, local allies fire at crowd near Gaza aid site
Palestinians say Israeli forces and allied local gunmen fired toward a crowd heading to an Israeli- and US-supported food distribution center in the Gaza Strip early Monday. Gaza's Health Ministry said six people were killed. The gunmen appeared to be allied with the Israeli military, operating in close proximity to troops and retreating into an Israeli military zone in the southern city of Rafah after the crowd hurled stones at them, witnesses said. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israel recently acknowledged supporting local armed groups opposed to Hamas. It was the latest in a number of shootings that have killed at least 127 people and wounded hundreds since the rollout of a new food distribution system, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Israel and the United States say the new system is designed to circumvent Hamas, but it has been rejected by the UN and major aid groups. Experts have meanwhile warned that Israel's blockade and its ongoing military campaign have put Gaza at risk of famine. Palestinians say Israeli forces have repeatedly fired toward crowds heading to the food centers since they opened last month. In previous instances, the Israeli military has said it fired warning shots at people who approached its forces near the centers, which are in military zones off limits to independent media. Displaced Palestinians walk past the ruins of destroyed buildings along the Gaza City shoreline on Monday. AP The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the Israeli- and US-supported private contractor running the sites, says there has been no violence in or around the centers themselves. But GHF repeatedly warns would-be food recipients that stepping off the road designated by the military for people to reach the centers represents 'a great danger.' It paused delivery at its three distribution sites last week to hold discussions with the military about improving safety on the routes. GHF closed the Rafah site on Monday due to the 'chaos of the crowds,' according to a Facebook site associated with the group. A GHF spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Heba Joda, who was in the crowd Monday, said gunfire broke out at a roundabout where previous shootings have occurred, around a kilometer (half a mile) from the aid site. She said the shots came from the 'dangerous zone' where Israeli troops and their allies are stationed. She said she saw men from a local militia led by Yasser Abu Shabab trying to organize the crowds into lines on the road. When people pushed forward, the gunmen opened fire. People then hurled stones at them, forcing them to withdraw toward the Israeli positions, she said. The Abu Shabab group, which calls itself the Popular Forces, says it is guarding the surroundings of the GHF centers in southern Gaza. Aid workers say it has a long history of looting UN aid trucks. GHF has said it does not work with the Abu Shabab group. Hussein Shamimi, who was also in the crowd, said his 14-year-old cousin was among those killed. 'There was an ambush ... the Israelis from one side and Abu Shabab from another,' he said. Mohamed Kabaga, a Palestinian displaced from northern Gaza, said he saw masked men firing toward the crowds after trying to organize them. 'They fired at us directly,' he said while being treated at Nasser Hospital, in the nearby city of Khan Younis. He had been shot in the neck, as were three other people seen by an Associated Press journalist at the hospital. Kabaga said he saw around 50 masked men with 4x4 vehicles in the area around the roundabout, close to Israeli military lines. 'We didn't receive anything,' he said. 'They shot us.' Nasser Hospital said several men had been shot in the upper body, including some in the head. Zaher Al-Waheidi, head of the Health Ministry's records department, said six people were killed and more than 99 wounded, some of them at another GHF center in central Gaza. Israel has demanded GHF replace the UN-run system that has distributed food, medicine and other supplies to Palestinians since the war began. Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid and using it to fund militant activities, but UN officials say there is no evidence of any systematic diversion. Associated Press
ARN News Center
4 hours ago
- ARN News Center
Israeli gunfire kills 17 people near Gaza aid site, health officials say
Israeli gunfire killed at least 17 Palestinians and wounded dozens as thousands of displaced people approached an aid distribution site of a US-backed humanitarian group in central Gaza on Tuesday, local health authorities said. Medics said the casualties were rushed at two hospitals, the Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, and the Al-Quds in Gaza City, in the north. The Israeli military said its forces fired warning shots at "suspects who were advancing in the area of Wadi Gaza and posed a threat to the troops". It added that it was aware of reports that several were injured, but argued numbers released by local health authorities did not align with the information they collected. "The warning shots were fired hundreds of metres from the aid distribution site, prior to its opening hours and toward the suspects who posed a threat to the troops," the military added. Last week it warned Palestinians not to approach routes leading to sites of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) between 6:00 pm and 6:00 am local time, describing these roads as closed military zones. There was no immediate GHF comment on Tuesday's incident. The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. Many Gazans say they have to walk for hours to reach the sites, meaning they have to start travelling well before dawn if they are to stand any chance of receiving food. While the GHF has said there have been no incidents at its so-called secure distribution sites, Palestinians seeking aid have described disorder, and access routes to the sites have been beset by chaos and deadly violence. Later on Tuesday, local health authorities said an Israeli strike on a house in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip killed eight people, taking Tuesday's death toll to at least 25. The Israeli military said separately, it intercepted one rocket fired from northern Gaza towards Israeli territories, which signalled Hamas and other militant group remained able to fire the weapons despite Israeli devastation of their arsenal. Israel allowed limited UN-led operations to resume on May 19 after an 11-week blockade in the enclave of 2.3 million people, where experts have warned a famine looms. The UN has described the aid allowed into Gaza as "drop in the ocean". Witnesses said at least 40 trucks carrying flour for UN warehouses were looted by desperate displaced Palestinians as well as thieves near Nabulsi roundabout along the coastal road in Gaza City. The war erupted after Hamas-led fighters took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023, attack, Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's military campaign has since killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the coastal enclave.
